Where You Come From
by lord of lannister
Summary: Daddy!Klaine. Having that most important 'Talk' with an adopted kid is always hard. Especially when you have something to hide. It's time for Kurt and Blaine to tell their son he's adopted. Will he react as expected? Or will the parenting skills of our favourite gay couple be put to the ultimate test? Read on to find out.
1. Chapter 1: The News

**_A/N: Another multi-chapter fic from the Lannister stables! Set in my personal Klaine-verse in which (for the uninitiated) Kurt and Blaine are married, living in New York, and parents to two adopted kids, Valerie (elder) and Drake (younger). You read the summary up top, now on with the tale!_**

"Drake!"

"What?"

"Would you come down please? Your Dad and I need to talk to you."

"Am I in trouble?"

Silence.

"Should you be?"

"Uh... no? Not that I can remember..."

"Then you're probably not. Now come down!"

Ten-year old Drake Hummel-Anderson descended slowly down the stairs, his brain working at lightning speed, trying to determine all possibilities that would involve both his fathers needing to speak to him alone.

None of them were good.

* * *

Kurt stood waiting at the bottom of the stairs, his arms folded across his chest, looking serious, but not unnaturally so.

For the life of him, Drake couldn't figure out what he had done wrong in the past week that he hadn't already been chastened for. He cast his mind back two weeks. Three. The past month. Nope. All accounted for. Brow furrowed with worry, he walked into the living room ahead of his father, wondering if they had finally managed to gain some remarkable insight into the future and this might be some sort of pre-emptive intervention for trouble he hadn't even committed yet.

Blaine was lounging on the couch when he entered with Kurt, but turned with an easy smile. Well, that was a good sign. Atleast one of his dads was smiling. Gingerly, he accepted a seat on the edge of the coffee table facing them, his gaze swivelling from one face to the other.

"Ok, you guys. You're seriously freaking me out here. What's this about? Why are you talking to me alone if I'm not in trouble?"

Blaine pretended to look hurt.

"What? We can't have father-son conversations any more without you being in trouble?"

Drake raised his eyebrows sceptically.

"Uhhh... _both_ of you?"

Kurt sighed and leaned forward.

"Drake, for the last time, you're not in trouble. Not this time. but we do have something we need to talk to you about."

Suddenly something clicked behind the young boy's hazel eyes.

"Wait... is this because I called you 'Kurt' the other day instead of Daddy?" he queried frantically.

"Look, Dad, I didn't mean to offend you! I'm ten now! I can't call you 'Daddy' anymore! That's only for babies! And girls."

Kurt's crystal blue eyes registered his frank surprise at the topic brought up.

"N-no, Drake. We've already talked about that. It's cool if you want to call us both Dad now. We-we understand. You can refer to us by our names when you're talking to other people. No, that's not why we called you here."

He paused, searching his son's worried eyes and then he took his hands in his.

Drake stiffened. Now he knew something was up.

Blaine also edged forward in his seat.

"Drake, I just want to let you know that no matter what you're about to hear, we're here for you. Nothing changes between us, ok, buddy?"

A dry cold feeling was creeping up Drake's throat. The suspense created by his fathers was getting almost too much to bear. He wished they would just blurt it out, whatever it was, and get it over with.

He saw the two of them exchange a brief glance and Blaine gave Kurt an imperceptible nod. Kurt took a deep breath, licking his own dry lips once before he made the life-changing announcement. Drake wished he could shut his eyes, but they were rivetted onto his father's face. Kurt squeezed his hands and then said as gently as possible,

"Drake, your dad and I, you know we love you very much, right?"

Drake was almost too terrified now to nod. He managed only a slightly jerky movement of the head.

"Drake, buddy, we felt that you're now old enough to understand a few important things and that it's time you were told where you came to us from. You see, we're not your biological parents. You're an adopted child, Drake."

* * *

The world seemed to stop spinning in the eternal heartbeat it took for Kurt's words to sink in.

Drake's eyelids fell and lifted once more, but in that very blink, it seemed to him his parents had changed. Everything had changed. Things weren't what they had been even a moment ago. He looked down at Kurt's hands still grasping his own and suddenly they looked like the hands of a stranger. He wrenched them away, shrinking back in horror.

"What?"

It came out only as strangled gasp.

Both Kurt and Blaine's eyes widened in dismay at his reaction. Blaine reached out to grip his shoulders, but Drake shook him off violently and despite being prepared for this, his son's rejection still stung.

"Drake, honey... I know it's a lot to take in, so I want you to think before you react, ok? We're going to be here for you. We'll always be here for you. Remember what I said? This doesn't change anything between us. We still love you-"

"Are you_ crazy?!_"

Drake jumped to his feet, his eyes filling fast as he looked at the two of them wildly.

"This changes _everything _ between us!"

Kurt's heart dropped when he heard this.

"Who were they?"

Drake looked at them challengingly.

"My real parents. Who were they? Are they alive?"

Kurt felt Blaine's hand grope for his and sensed it trembling. He squeezed back as reassuringly as he could. They would have to face this as a team.

"Drake, sit down. There's still a whole story to tell and you need to hear it through to the end."

Kurt was internally very proud of himself for being able to sound firm without his voice quavering.

Drake controlled himself mightily to keep the tears in his eyes from spilling, but finally sat rigidly back down, clamping his hands on his knees.

Kurt forced himself to look him steadily in the eyes as he began with the longest tale he had ever told in his life.

* * *

"Drake, before I tell you anything, I want you to understand something once and for all. You are our son. No matter what, ok? We adopted you right after you were born. We have raised you and loved you and we still love you. Just as much as we always have. You are a part of this family. A very important part. Never forget that."

He drew in a breath.

"Ok. Well, here goes. Your mom-"

"_Mom?! _ Wait... I have a... mom?!"

This time Drake couldn't hold it in anymore. His lip trembled and two tears rolled down his cheeks.

In an instant Blaine had him gathered in his arms and even though he struggled in his grip, he refused to let go. Finally, Drake stopped resisting and leaned back against him, dragging his sleeve over his eyes and returning his attention to Kurt.

Kurt lifted his eyes to Blaine's for a second, as if to gather reassurance, and then resumed once more.

"Drake, to make a baby, you need a man and a woman. Two men or two women alone can't conceive a child. That's why your Dad and I can't ever have a baby."

Drake's brow furrowed.

"Why can't you just make one with a woman then?"

Kurt smiled wryly.

"Well, to do that, we'd have to love a woman instead of each other. But your Dad and I can't do that. We love each other too much to share ourselves with a woman."

Drake still looked slightly confused, but didn't question this further. Kurt let out a thankful sigh. Sex and sexual preferences were things he would rather deal with in an entirely separate conversation!

"But we did want kids. We'd already been married for a number of years and we really wanted to start a family. So we opted for adoption."

Blaine brought his lips closer to Drake's ears.

"You wanna know something cool, buddy? Val and you have the same mommy!"

Drake nearly twisted his neck spinning around to face his father.

"Wait, Val? She- she's adopted too?"

Kurt and Blaine both nodded.

"Of course."

"And- and we both came from the same place?"

Blaine looked to Kurt for help with this one and he directed Drake's attention to himself.

"Drake, sweetheart, your birth mother loved two separate men at different points in her life. One of them gave her your sister, and the other one gave her you. So, yes, your sister and you share a mother, but you have separate biological fathers."

Drake's eyes dripped a couple of tears again, but this time he bit his lip and nodded for him to continue.

Kurt edged closer to Blaine and Drake, trying to establish eye contact with his son who kept shying away.

"Trouble was, both the times she had a baby, your mother was far too young to take care of it. That's why she put you two up for adoption. She was still in school at the time and couldn't handle the pressures and responsibilities that came with having a child to take care of. But she wanted you to go to a good home. That's why she chose us."

Drake bent his head and absent-mindedly fiddled with Blaine's jeans.

"She didn't want us?" he mumbled so quietly that Kurt nearly failed to hear him.

"Why of course she wanted you, sweetheart! But she knew she wouldn't be able to take care of you properly. She didn't have money, or a job. She was still in school, still a teenager! So when she saw how much we wanted a baby, she told us that since we wanted you as much as she did but we were in a better position to care for you, she would give you to us."

"How old was she?" Drake enquired again.

Kurt tried to recall.

"She must have been about seventeen when she had your sister, Drake... so she was twenty when she had you."

Drake scowled faintly.

"Twenty's old!"

Blaine chuckled and ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Hope you don't feel that way when you're twenty, buddy!"

Kurt paused, having reached a lull in his story. He debated which way to go next, hoping for a cue from his boy.

Drake sat still, pondering over all he'd just learned, his mind trying desperately to reassemble the world as he'd known it less than an hour ago.

"Val was born before me, right?"

"That's right."

"When did you adopt her?"

"Well, your mother had gone to the adoption agency soon after she'd found out that she would be having a baby and after meeting with other couples who'd also signed up for adoption, she met with us. She had the final say as to which couple would be getting the baby, and she liked us so much, it didn't take her long to tell us we were going to be daddies.

"Naturally, we were over the moon! This was something we'd hoped and dreamed of for so long and had been waiting for very nervously!"

Blaine's eyes twinkled.

"Your dad bought up almost the entire baby store after we heard that Collette had chosen us."

Drake's head snapped up.

"Collette?"

Blaine smiled down at him.

"Your mother's name is Collette. Collette van Wilder."

"Your mother and we remained in touch constantly. We took her to see the doctor whenever she had to go and we were there when your sister was finally born."

Kurt couldn't help the nostalgic smile that spread across his face as he remembered the day he'd seen his daughter for the first time.

"Were you there for me too?"

The question came softly, hesitantly.

Blaine tightened his arms about his son.

"Of course we were, sport! We heard you as soon as you came bawling into the world!"

* * *

Kurt exchanged a look with Blaine. He knew he was trying to keep the mood light, but could also sense his anxiety to make this as easy as possible on their son. He heaved a sigh and decided to plunge right in to the next and most difficult part of the story.

"You-uh... came as a bit of a surprise to us, son."

Drake's eyes sought his out.

"Wh-whaddya mean... surprise?"

Kurt let out a breath.

"Let's just say we weren't exactly expecting to get so lucky twice."

Drake's expression reflected his confusion, so Kurt decided it would be best to be straightforward about the whole thing, completely ignoring the warning glares being shot at him from Blaine.

"After we got your sister, Drake, we weren't looking to adopt any more kids. At least for the time being. Both your dad and I were busy, we had hectic schedules, and Val took up all the time we had to spare. We didn't think we were ready for more. But fate works in mysterious ways, you know. I really believe you were destined to come to us. Because one fine day I get a call from your mother informing me she's having another baby but that the adoptive parents this time have bailed on her and she's wondering whether we've been thinking of adding to our family. She begged me to consider and come over to the hospital to atleast meet you before we made a final decision saying that if she couldn't find anyone to take the baby, she'd have to put it in a State children's shelter since there was no way her family would allow her to keep it! I won't lie to you, Drake, I was scared! I only waited for your dad to come home to tell him about the phone call and then he was the one who convinced me we should take up the offer and before we knew it, we were in a cab heading for the hospital."

Kurt paused here, waiting for a reaction from his son, but the boy's face was inscrutable, just the deep embers of a glowing fire hidden deep within the recesses of his eyes. He cleared his throat and decided to continue.

"Collette and the people from the agency who knew us from before vouched for us so we could take you home that very night, before the paperwork had been finalized. We knew, the second we laid eyes on you, how badly we wanted you, scared or not. Val was so excited when she heard she was getting a baby brother. You were like her Christmas present come early!"

Kurt was trying to be upbeat and encouraging, but the consistent lack of reaction unnerved him. Even Blaine was looking down at Drake with a puzzled frown on his brows.

Finally, Drake stood up, a little unsteadily, but avoided eye-contact with either of them.

"Is that the story then?" he asked.

Kurt looked at Blaine and then nodded.

"Pretty much, unless you have any questions. Anything at all."

Drake appeared to be thinking for a while.

"May I go to my room now? I want some time alone to think."

He enunciated his wishes very clearly.

Perplexed, Kurt nodded.

"Of- of course, son. We'll be right here if you want to talk-"

Before he could finish, Drake scampered off, bounding noisily up the stairs and slamming the door of his room.

* * *

Kurt let out a long slow breath and turned to his husband.

"Well. That didn't quite go as planned."

Blaine was looking at him with a curious expression on his face.

"You thought it was going to be easy turning a ten-year old's life upside down?"

"Val had taken it far better."

"That's because Val is a different person, Kurt! You can't equate them!"

Kurt frowned.

"What's up with you? You were hardly talking back there."

Blaine looked him straight in the eyes.

"Because you went off-script, Kurt. I couldn't even tell whether we were on the same page."

He crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"I thought we decided on telling him the absolute truth, Kurt. So how come you didn't tell him the whole story?"

**_T.B.C..._**


	2. Chapter 2- Flashback: How It All Began

_10th November, 2020._

_Blaine frowned as he entered a rather quiet house, toeing off his shoes and looking around for his usual welcoming committee of frantically enthusiastic daughter and only slightly more demure husband. Curious, he called out,_

_"Kurt?"_

_"In here," came a quick reply from the direction of the day-room. Blaine walked in to find Kurt sitting with his feet curled up on the divan and fiddling with the phone, an odd, faraway expression on his face._

_Blaine smiled wide in greeting, coming forward to embrace him._

_"Hey, honey! How was your day? Where's Val?"_

_"I sent her over to Rachel's for a bit. Blaine, we need to talk."_

_Suddenly all the humour leached out of Blaine's countenance, hearing the unusual worry in Kurt's voice and reflected in his glasz eyes. He plopped onto the couch, taking Kurt's hand in his._

_"Wh- What's wrong, baby? Talk to me."_

_"I- Blaine, I got a phone-call today."_

_Kurt looked at Blaine with something akin to helplessness._

_"It was from Collette."_

_Blaine felt his very heart go still within him._

_"And?" he just about managed to whisper._

_"Blaine, she- she's in the hospital. She told me she's having another baby, but the adoptive parents bailed on her at the last minute. Blaine... she- she wanted to know if we-we were interested in adopting again..."_

_Blaine nearly forgot to breathe for a second. He blinked very rapidly and asked,_

_"What- what did you say?"_

_"I said that I needed to talk to you first and would get back to her. Honey, I- I don't think it's such a good idea... I mean, Val's still so small and we're always so busy..."_

_Blaine drew back, chewing his lip and looking contemplative. Kurt searched his face desperately for signs of agreement._

_"Did she say anything else?"_

_"She- she said she'd give us first refusal on the baby and that if she couldn't find anyone, she'd have to give it up to the children's shelter."_

_Kurt dropped his head, fingers agitating his hair._

_"I know, I feel bad too, but Blaine-"_

_He looked up and stopped. Blaine was on his feet and there was a look of such euphoria in his eyes that they were shining like twin stars. He was literally begging him._

_"Oh my God, Kurt! Come on, please?! Look, I- I know. Everything you're saying is perfectly valid, Val is small, we don't have the time... but Kurt! Think about it! It's- it's- This is like a sign! We've always talked about giving Val a sibling, this- this one could be from her own mother! Kurt, please! Can't we just atleast go and _look _ at the baby?"_

_Kurt's heart sank within him. Blaine melted everytime he was faced with an infant and somehow Kurt just knew that if he met this one, he was sure to bring it home. But another child! Another _child! _ This was huge but Blaine didn't seem to be realizing just how huge it might turn out to be! There was the chance of _four _ lives getting ruined in this process!_

_Blaine was literally having to stuff a fist into his mouth to keep from squealing with joy, but could see Kurt would need a little more convincing. He tried to speak rationally._

_"Kurt, I know you don't trust me around babies. I know I tend to get a little carried away. But Kurt, I - I just have a feeling about this! Trust me? Please? Let's just go see it and- and I promise you get to have the final say. Please, Kurt. If we have to go through the whole line of adoption again, who knows how long it'll take? Val wasn't made in a day either, was she? And I- I know we have it in us to be parents again. Sure, it's going to be hard. It's never exactly been easy, has it? But would you trade this experience for the world? Kurt, I'm begging you. Please don't say no. Let us just go to the hospital, once."_

_Kurt stood up and grasped Blaine by the shoulders._

_"Blaine," he said firmly, looking him straight in the eyes._

_"I want you to take a minute and think. _Think! _ With your head, not your heart! Think about what this might mean. This is a child you're talking about. A _child! _ We already have a daughter, Blaine. A three-year old who takes up all our attention and energy now. How are we going to manage a three year old__** and**__ a newborn? Don't you remember what it was like after Val was born? I mean, even you are only human!"_

_"Kurt, I swear to you, I won't take a decision without you. If you're not on board, then we won't take it. But what if this is it, Kurt? Our child might be being born this very minute! I can't take the risk of missing out on that!"_

_Kurt looked at him for a long moment, allowing the tension to build in the room._

_"You promise you won't get carried away?"_

_"Yes, Kurt! I won't get carried away."_

_"You know I have a good reason for taking these precautions, Blaine. And you will listen to me? Even if you don't like it?"_

_"Yes, Kurt. I swear I'll listen to you. I will bow down to whatever decision you take, my Master!"_

_Kurt shot him a withering glare as he walked towards the hallway._

_"Remember, you're at my mercy tonight, Anderson. Sarcasm isn't going to be very helpful to your cause."_

_Blaine hid his million-watt smile behind his hand, just about restraining himself from whooping with glee._

* * *

_ The speedy cab ride to the hospital was utterly silent, each of the men lost in their own thoughts, debates and anticipations._

_Kurt was plain worried. Another baby at this stage in their lives would be simply impossible, but it seemed Blaine couldn't see that at all! Yes, they hadn't intended for Valerie to grow up as an only child. They had planned to add atleast another to their brood, but right now?! Atleast with Val they had known months in advance, had had a chance to reorganize schedules and plan for her arrival! Going to the hospital and bringing a real live baby home that very night was sheer madness!_

_Blaine couldn't get rid of the feeling that the universe had somehow conspired to put them in this situation. The minute he'd heard Kurt speak about the phone-call, something in his gut had clicked and he simply couldn't shake this feeling of rightness. He knew Kurt was verging on panicking, but he couldn't stop the swell of sheer delirious excitement that was threatening to burst his insides. Yes, he'd promised Kurt the final call, but if it came to it, he'd have to find some way of making Kurt see the inevitability of it all. A new life was coming into the world tonight. And it was about to change all their lives forever..._

* * *

_ Blaine paced the waiting room, looking like the typical image of an expectant father, while Kurt sat on the bench, nervously tapping his foot and worrying his nails. Collette had gone into labour several hours ago, but there was still no news from the delivery room. Finally, at nearly 10.30 p.m., a nurse poked her head round the door of the ward and beckoned them in excitedly._

_"Are you the adoptive parents? Congratulations! It's a boy!"_

_And she'd disappeared. Kurt's heart skipped a beat and despite himself, he couldn't help the rush of excitement that sped through him. He was almost through the door before he realized that Blaine wasn't with him._

_Blaine had frozen upon hearing the news._

**_A boy!_**

_For some reason, the thought had halted him in his tracks._

**_A son._**

_He had a son! A _son!

_Blaine hated to admit it, but he probably wouldn't have felt so excited and so nervous at the same time had it been another girl. And yes. He had automatically come to think of it as his. His son._

_A flood of questions chased each other through his brain: Why? Why am I more excited that it's a boy? Wouldn't I have been just as happy if it had been a girl?_

_Blaine could hardly consider himself to be the patriarchal type!_

_Can I be a good father to a boy? Possibly a straight boy? Do I have it in me to show him what it is to be a man? Or will I only end up disappointing my son like I disappointed my father?_

_Only this evening, he had had no further thought in his head except to look forward to going home and spending a warm evening with his husband and daughter, curled up on the couch, drinking wine, maybe watching TV. But here he was, in a hospital ward, about to experience the exhilaration of a brand new human being entering his life for the second time and having it upended all over again._

_Kurt walked back to take him by the hand and smiled._

_"You know you were the one who talked me into this, remember? Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now!"_

_Blaine looked up into Kurt's face with a simple look of blank incomprehension, forcing the older man to roll his eyes and yank him inside._

* * *

_ A plethora of smells assaulted his nose the moment he stepped in, but the first thing that registered with a still thunderstruck Blaine was the sound of a baby's lusty crying. It beckoned him to a tiny crib set against the far wall. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Kurt talking in a low tone with the tired young woman lying on the bed. He flashed her a small smile and wave when she noticed him, but kept his attention fixated on the infant's cot._

_At last he came into view of it and looked in. He was just a small pink bundle, swaddled in a white blanket, but Blaine felt the tears prickling the back of his eyes as he gazed in wonder at him. He was perfect! Tiny, but perfect. His eyes hadn't even opened yet, but he kept kicking the air and trying to clutch at something invisible above him. Almost without realizing it, Blaine reached in and gently lifted him into his arms. The baby continued to kick and clutch and this time knocked Blaine softly on the chin. His eyes fluttered open and blinked at him and the crying abruptly died away. And father and son stared into each other's identical eyes for the first time._

_Kurt and Collette had been watching the whole scene being performed with almost dramatic precision before their very eyes. Kurt could see the expression of almost child-like wonder on his husband's face as he looked into the crib, as he tenderly lifted the baby out and rocked him in his arms, as he stilled when he felt the baby's touch and gazed into his newly opened eyes. It was an instant and overwhelming love. Kurt knew for a fact that it had happened, just as he'd feared. Blaine had already adopted the child into his heart before even laying eyes on him._

_Beside him, Collette emitted a faint giggle._

_"He's such a goner! You won't be able to talk him out of this one, Kurt. He's already treating him like he's yours."_

_Kurt nodded absent-mindedly as he thought through all the arguments he had prepared in his mind of convincing Blaine to refuse the adoption. But not a single one of them would be able to withstand the intensity of the love he could see in his husband's face at this moment. Blaine walked over to them, his eyes never leaving the baby's face._

_"Kurt," he whispered in hushed tones as he reached him, "We- we have a son!"_

_Finally he raised his eyes, shining with tears of joy, hope and wonder and seemed to register who he was talking to for the first time. He looked from Collette's smiling face to Kurt's openly questioning one and then thrust the bundle he was carrying at Kurt. His voice seemed to have gone dry and husky._

_"I- I'll be outside. Tell me when you've reached a decision..."_

_He squeezed Collette's shoulder and pressed a kiss to her temple._

_"He's beautiful," he managed before literally fleeing from sight._

_Collette looked up at Kurt, now staring into the face of the suddenly silent baby. He seemed to be at a loss for words._

_"Now tell me you can refuse him," she demanded._

_Kurt didn't register Collette's words. He continued to stare, dumbfounded, at the newborn child, all his arguments having evaporated into thin air._

Blaine's eyes! It can't be possible... but... He has Blaine's eyes!

_He choked back a sob and turned to face Collette._

_"Thank you...For this... again. He's- he's... a little miracle," he said with a watery smile and then followed in the wake of his husband._

* * *

_ Blaine was back to pacing in the hallway outside the delivery room, his thoughts in a frantic whirl once more._

_He had to have him. He simply had to! He was his son, dammit! You don't form such an instantaneous, visceral bond with just anyone at first sight. This boy was it. It had to be destiny... or something! No, even if Kurt put up ten thousand rational arguments in front of him, he simply couldn't let him win. Not in this. There was too much at stake!_

_He didn't care whether they would be able to afford another baby at this stage or not. He'd withdraw all his savings if he had to. He didn't care if they had no time to take care of a newborn. He'd quit his job, give up his recording contract, if he had to..._

_But then a new thought struck him, halting him in his tracks._

_What if Kurt didn't love the boy? Would it be fair to either of them to bring a child into a home where he would be loved by only one parent and perhaps only tolerated by the other? And Kurt had tried to warn him. He'd told him point blank that he was against the idea of adopting another child at this stage in their lives. Would it be fair to him then to force an additional responsibility on him, one he was clearly disinclined to shoulder? Could he be blamed then if he didn't love the child?_

_Blaine's heart turned to ash at the terrible thought. But it was all too likely a possibility._

No. Kurt is a wonderful father to Valerie. He would never reject a little child like that! He has to be able to feel the connection to the boy like I do...

But what if he doesn't? What if Kurt doesn't want a son? What if- ?

_"Blaine."_

_Blaine whipped around, startled, to see his husband standing in the doorway to the delivery room, holding a white swaddled bundle in his arms, and smiling, albeit very hesitantly._

_"We have a son."_

* * *

_Blaine stood on Rachel and Finn's doorstep, zonked, exhausted, but so very, very happy. It was Finn who opened the door and stared at him, rubbing sleep-bleary eyes._

_"Hey, Blaine man. What's going on? Everything ok?"_

_He couldn't help himself. He dashed in and crushed a stunned Finn in a bone-crushing hug._

_"Oh Finn! I've got the most amazing, crazy-ass news!"_

_Finn was still looking at him, completely non-plussed._

_"You're an uncle again!"_

_For a moment there was utter blankness in Finn's brown eyes, but then a slow grin began to lift the corners of his lips._

_"Wait... what?! When did this happen?! I mean... how?! Oh my God, Rachel's going to freak!"_

_Blaine was laughing hysterically himself._

_"I know! I mean, even we didn't know it till this very evening! It's- It was like magic, Finn! Val's mom just had another baby, but the adoptive parents bailed at the last minute and she called us and we went to see the baby, and- oh my God!- it- it was like destiny or something! We just fell in love with him the moment we saw him! And-"_

_"Wait, wait, whoa! Blaine man! Slow down! It's... a him?"_

_Blaine's eyes were shining as he nodded vigorously._

_"Yes! It's a boy! You have a nephew, Finn! I have a son!"_

_Finn tackled the younger man into a hug, literally jumping with excitement._

_"Oh wow, man! That's- that's so awesome! I'm so happy for you guys! But... where is he? Where's Kurt?"_

_Blaine pursed his lips humorously._

_"Where do you think? We have one night to get ready for a new baby, so he's gone 'speed-shopping'!"_

_Finn chuckled._

_"Oh, but I have to tell Val. She doesn't even know she's a big sister yet!"_

_Blaine grinned nervously._

_"I have no idea how she's going to react."_

_Finn patted him on the shoulder._

_"She's smart for her age. I think she might just surprise you."_

* * *

_Finn was right._

_Valerie listened to her father with the most serious expression adorning her little face as he told her about the sudden new arrival in their lives._

_When he was done, she only had one question._

_"Where is he?"_

_"Daddy's got him, sweetheart. You'll get to see him as soon as we get home, ok?"_

_She nodded, still utterly serious, then made a brisk about-turn, marched upstairs and in five minutes had her little backpack packed with her toys and ready to go._

_Rachel had barely been holding back as Blaine had talked to Val. Finn had quickly briefed her on the tumultuous turn of events and her eyes had nearly popped from their sockets._

_"Wait till I get hold of that Kurt Hummel-Anderson!" she'd sworn fiercely._

_"I am going to separate his head from his shoulders for not telling me first! But wait, Blaine ought to do just fine!"_

_Of course, she hadn't made good on her threat, probably having regard to the presence of his daughter, but she'd glared at him enough to make him squirm before breaking down and giving him an ecstatic aunt-for-the-second-time hug._

_"And you tell your filthy rat of a husband to get his designer clad booty over here on the double so I can give him a good piece of my mind!" she'd hissed as he'd left. Blaine had solemnly sworn he would do as commanded._

_On the cab ride back, Valerie had noticed her father was tremenduously agitated, even though he was trying his best not to show it. She was curious about her little brother, wondering what he'd look like._

_"Can I play with him, Dad?" she'd asked inquisitively._

_Blaine had smiled warmly at her._

_"Oh honey, he's too small to play with you just yet. But you will be able to. Very soon."_

_Valerie had pursed her lips and gazed out the cab window. A little brother who couldn't be played with would hardly be much use to her, would he?_

* * *

_Kurt was waiting for them when they reached, pacing the living room floor and gently rocking a sleeping baby on his shoulder. He motioned for them not to wake him as they entered and passed him over to Blaine while he got Valerie's old crib ready for him upstairs._

_Blaine sat down slowly on the couch, very carefully, so as not to wake his sleeping son and sighed with contentment at the cherubic face that slept peacefully inside the bundle in his arms. Valerie clambered clumsily onto the couch beside them, straining for a better look._

_She put in a finger to touch his pink scrunched up skin before Blaine could stop her._

_"He looks just like a little pink piggy, Dad!"_

_Blaine didn't know whether to be shocked or amused at her comment._

_"Val! He's your brother! Don't call him a piggy! That's not nice."_

_Val cocked her head to one side, looking far sager than her mere three years._

_"But baby piggies are cute, Dad. He's cute."_

_Blaine smiled._

_"He is, isn't he?"_

_"When can I play with him, Dad?"_

_Blaine didn't lift his eyes from his infant son, but nodded vaguely at his daughter._

_"Soon, sweetheart. Really soon."_

* * *

_Kurt woke from his sleep abruptly in the middle of the night and turned over to find Blaine's side empty and cold. He frowned before realizing where he might have slipped off to this late and crept out, pulling a warm robe around himself. He padded down softly towards the baby's room and peeked in._

_Blaine sat inside, on the very edge of the old rocking chair, pulled up to the crib, gazing with unabashed wonder at the child sleeping within. Soft moonlight bathed the room and something in Kurt's heart warmed at the sight as he stepped in._

_"I never realized having a son meant this much to you," he remarked, softly, unwilling to wake the baby._

_Blaine blushed in the dark._

_"No... I mean, it's not that. I'd have loved him even if he had been a girl. I love our daughter, you can't deny that..."_

_"But you see something special in him?"_

_Blaine looked up, searching for something in Kurt's eyes._

_"And... you don't?" he asked hesitatingly._

_"Kurt... you're still on board with this, right? I mean, you're- you're not having second thoughts now or- or something... are you? I- I did let you-"_

_Kurt chuckled lightly._

_"You think I'd shop all night and bring him home only to change my mind at the last minute? Surely you know me better than that?!"_

_But Blaine somehow wasn't convinced, slowly rising to his feet, one hand gripping the rail of the bassinet._

_Kurt heaved a sigh, allowing the smile to slip off his face._

_"I'm just... a bit worried, you know. I mean, it _is _ short notice. And we already have a small child. I- I don't want to screw this up, Blaine."_

_"I thought Val took the whole new situation pretty well."_

_Kurt smiled fondly at this._

_"Yeah, I am glad Val's excited about this... sudden addition. But it's not like she's old enough that we can even think about leaving her alone or anything. Blaine, I hope you realize just how much we're going to have our work cut out for us."_

_Blaine nodded, coming forward to lay a supporting hand upon his arm._

_"I know, Kurt. But I think these two are going to be worth it. And... Kurt? I can't thank you enough for not saying no to this one. I know I got a little carried away when I saw him... You're the practical one who actually thinks all these things through and I-"_

_Kurt stopped him with a gentle finger to the lips._

_"I saw the way you looked at him, Blaine. There was an instant connection between you two. I've never seen you look that way at anyone before. Not even me. I knew I wouldn't be able to refuse you this. It would have broken your heart."_

_Blaine looked down at the tiny, sleeping boy and nodded wordlessly. He had known, just known, somehow, the instant he'd laid eyes on him that this boy was destined to be his. _His _ son. The universe had ordained it, and he would have let nothing tear him away from him._

_Kurt also looked into the bundle, reaching in a finger to stroke the unbelievably soft newborn skin._

_"Thought of a name for him yet?"_

_Blaine bit his lip contemplatively._

_"I was thinking... maybe something along the lines of... Julian?"_

_At that Kurt firmly shook his head._

_"No. Not Julian. How about... Drake?"_

_"Drake?"_

_Blaine's eyes looked curious._

_"That's an unusual name. Drake... Hummel-Anderson. Has a certain ring to it, don't you think?"_

_He smiled lop-sidedly at his husband._

_"I like it. Drake it is."_

_They smiled down together at their infant son, and for the first time, Kurt felt some of the trepidation ease at allowing this sudden new addition into his family and into his heart._

* * *

_Val was the first up the next morning, a little surprised that she hadn't been woken up with her usual bout of hugs and cuddles for her playschool. Stealthily she climbed out of bed and made her way to the next room where she assumed the new member of the family as of last night was still sleeping. She wanted to get a better look._

_To her surprise, he was awake, blinking liquid brown eyes and gurgling softly to himself. Val pulled over a small stool to the side of the bassinet and stood on it to lean over the side. Her brand new brother regarded her equanimously._

_Val couldn't resist her curiosity and reached in a finger to touch the tip of his nose. The baby blinked a little, startled, but then reached up the tiniest little pink hand to touch her finger back. Valerie couldn't help but giggle. The hand was so tiny! She'd never seen such a small hand before, not even on her toys! She let it rest in hers and studied it carefully, noting the minuscule fingernails and creases, in the same place as hers._

_She giggled again._

_"How'd you get so tiny?" she whispered._

_She could not have imagined that there could possibly be a being smaller than herself._

_The infant wriggled and gurgled, little bubbles forming on his lips and then yawned mightily, showing off toothless gums._

_Val squealed again with laughter._

_"You don't have any teef!"_

_She bared her own set of milky whites at him in an attempt to show him what he was missing out on._

_The baby batted his big brown eyes at her again, whimpering this time, and before she could stop him, let out a high-pitched wail._

_Val nearly fell off her stool. She frowned and hurriedly tried to shush him, poking at him through his blanket._

_"Shhhh! Don't cry, baby! You'll wake daddies!"_

_The baby didn't seem to pay any attention to her words, bawling even louder and flailing his tiny arms around._

_In desperation, Valerie got off her perch and headed for the door. Looking back with worry evident in her own brown eyes, she tried to reassure him._

_"Ok ok! I'll wake Daddy for you!"_

_She scampered down the upstairs hallway to her parents bedroom and gingerly pushed open the door. The two men lay fast asleep, barely under the covers, looking as though they hadn't shifted from the positions they'd collapsed in, sleeping the sleep of the utterly exhausted. Val padded over to Kurt's side of the bed and nudged at his elbow, hanging over the side._

_"Daddy?" she whispered, not wishing to wake Blaine as well._

_No response. Kurt was even snuffling in his sleep._

_A small frown formed on Val's pert brows. It wasn't usual for her daddies to be sleeping in this late._

_"Daddy?" she called again, a little louder._

_Kurt gave a stifled snort, tried to turn over, but fell back into his pillow, still asleep._

_By now Val was frustrated. The faint cries of her brother could still be heard, coming from his room, but neither of her parents seemed bothered. She clambered up onto the bed, literally straddling Kurt and shook his shoulder as hard as she could._

_"Daddy! Wake up!"_

_Finally, Kurt stirred, and attempted to sit up._

_"V-Val? Wha-?" he mumbled sleepily, rubbing his eyes._

_"Daddy, the baby's crying and he won't stop. You have to go to him! " she explained with a huff._

_It took a moment for what she was saying and the distant cries of the baby to register on Kurt's sleep-ridden consciousness, but then he was throwing off his covers with a muttered oath, scrambling for his slippers and racing out of the room towards his son._

_Val sat back on her haunches in the middle of the giant bed, looking on in the wake of her recently departed father with a look of vague perplexity, but then turned over towards Blaine, still lost in his dreams and snuggled under the comforter with him. Blaine's arm lifted of its own accord to accomodate her and father and daughter nestled comfortably in the cold winter morning, while the city of New York bustled on its busy way outside._


	3. Chapter 3: The Originals

Valerie knocked tentatively on her brother's door and getting no reply entered anyway. Drake was drawn up into himself at the head of the bed, his face bent over his knees, just the occasional sniff escaping his tightly bunched form.

Val knew that she was perhaps the only person who could get him to talk when he was in a state like this. She knew her brother, and she had her own ways of getting him to talk.

"Whaddya want?"

The question was laced with an unusual amount of defensive hostility, but Val let it slide.

"Figure you got the Talk?" she asked matter-of-factly.

"Oh yeah? Who told you?"

"Dads having an over-emotional argument downstairs, and you crying up here. 2+2."

"I'm not crying!"

Drake rubbed his sleeve vigorously over his face, smudging the tear-streaks already lining his cheeks.

Val sighed.

"Look, it's hard. I know, believe me! I had a hard time coming to terms with it myself when they told me and-"

She trailed off, looking uncertainly at her brother. He was glaring at her with undisguised animosity and hurt flaring in the depths of his eyes.

"Drae...?"

"You knew!" he hissed at her, the fury lacing his voice catching her off-guard.

"All this time... You knew about me and- and you never_ told _ me!"

He was leaning forward, tears beginning to flow down his cheeks again, except this time he was making no effort to wipe them off.

Val recoiled a little.

"All my life, I've never been able to keep one secret from you. You've always found me out! But _you?! _ I thought you were on my side, sis!"

"Drae! I-"

Despite herself, Valerie was dismayed. Seeing the hurt in her brother's eyes hurt her somewhere too.

"How could you not tell me, Val? How long have you known? And here I was, all this time, sitting like a fool, the only one who didn't know! How could you _play _ me like that?!"

"Drae, no! It's- it's not like that! They- they made me _promise _ not to tell! I- I couldn't-!"

But Drake shook his head, still unwilling to forgive.

"I trusted you. I believed in you, sis. But you betrayed me."

His words made her heart sink and she looked at him helplessly, tears of anguish stinging the backs of her eyes.

"I could never betray you, little bro," she whispered to no avail.

Drake got to his feet, pacing restlessly.

"You know, if it had been _me _ in your place, I bet you would have got it out of me. You always have, haven't you? _You _ wouldn't have had to face them completely naked and unprepared!"

"Drae, it's not like that at all!"

"Then what's it like?!" he nearly screamed at her.

"What is it like for _you _ to know you were never wanted in the first place?!"

"Enough!"

A thunderous voice interrupted their argument. Drake whipped around to find Blaine standing in his doorway, a deep frown gracing his brows.

"You do _not _ yell at your sister, Drake, you hear me? Whatever she did or did not tell you, she did because _we _ told her to!"

Valerie bit her lip and looked away from her father and brother, discreetly wiping at her eyes.

Drake straightened up and turned to face Blaine, the fire still simmering in his eyes.

"I want to meet them," he demanded finally.

"My real parents. I want to know who they are. I want to go to them."

* * *

He stood outside the apartment, in the darkened corridor, shuffling his feet and suddenly unsure of himself. Blaine rang the doorbell and stepped back to wait. Drake cast a quick glance up at his father, but he didn't meet his gaze. There was the faint sound of scuffling and a woman's voice said,

"Andrea! Pick that up and go to your room like I told you!"

Drake's heart skipped a beat and his mouth ran dry. He licked his lips nervously.

Could that have been his mother's voice?

Suddenly the door flew open and a petite young woman with short blonde hair and grey-green eyes stood before them smiling up at Blaine.

"Blaine! Oh my God! It's been so long! You haven't changed a bit!"

Then she seemed to notice the young boy, standing just behind him and her eyes widened as her lips parted into a small 'O' of surprise.

"Collette, I'd like you to meet Drake. Drake, this is Collette."

Drake fidgeted with his jacket, feeling his cheeks heat up.

"Uh- hi..."

"Drake?"

She bent down to his level, taking in every inch of him. He looked away bashfully, too conflicted to even meet her eyes. After a while, she straightened, looking up at Blaine, a hand clutched to her mouth, her eyes swimming with tears.

"He's... just amazing, Blaine!"

Drake finally managed to look up at her, his mother, or atleast the woman who had given birth to him. He studied her thoughtfully, trying to absorb in the little details while not obviously staring. His sister had her eyes, he figured, and the long, slender fingers which made her such a talented pianist. He couldn't quite make out which of her features he had inherited, though.

Is she into music? he found himself wondering.

She was beaming down at him and holding out her hand.

"Come on in, sweetheart. Would you like some chocolate milk?"

Hesitantly, he placed his hand in hers and allowed himself to be led forward into the small apartment.

It was a small, shabby and cluttered apartment, evidently far too small for the family it housed. Drake automatically found himself thinking that Kurt would have a fit if he saw this place. As he passed by, a small shadow darted into one of the rooms down the hallway. Drake stopped and pretty soon a small blonde head peeked around one of the doors, holding a giant stuffed bunny beneath round, blue eyes. It must be the little girl, Andrea, he'd heard being called for earlier.

Drake felt his stomach flip within him. His mother had had more children after him. Children she had finally kept.

The little girl disappeared back into her room and Drake heaved a sigh, continuing on to join Blaine and Collette in the small living room.

The adults were both regarding him warily as he took a seat, and under their scrutiny, Drake felt at a loss for words.

Out of sheer habit, he found himself looking at Blaine for a cue on how to proceed, but then he remembered himself and looked away.

Collette reached out and touched his knee, her eyes full of sympathy.

"Drake, honey, I want you to feel free to ask me anything, ok? Anything you need to know. I'll do my best to answer."

He looked up at her, meeting her gaze squarely.

"Who's my real father?" he asked.

The tension in the little circle of three seemed to increase ten-fold.

Blaine looked away, staring intently out the room's single window onto a blackened adjacent building wall and Collette fumbled with her hands in her lap.

Finally, she spoke.

"His name is Hank Miller. I- uh- met him while I was working as a check-out girl in a grocery store. We dated for a while..."

"Where is he now?" Drake enquired eagerly, edging forward in his chair.

Collette looked up, an expression of the deepest apology clouding her features.

"I- I don't know, Drake, sweetie. He- he ran out on me before you were born."

A cold weight seemed to descend on his heart as Drake slumped back and he had a hard time keeping tears of defeat from leaking out of his eyes.

_His father had run out on his mother. On him._

He looked at Collette again. He was having a hard time thinking of her as his mother. Truth be told, never having had a mother, he didn't really understand how he was supposed to feel towards her. He found himself studying her again, from the luridly painted pink nails to the short lime green skirt. She seemed a nice enough person, though perhaps a little scatter-brained, but she definitely had no sense of how to dress! He could never imagine either of his fathers ever being such a slob!

"Do you- uh- were you thinking of going to meet him too?"

Collette was speaking again, flashing glances of uncertainty first towards him and then towards Blaine.

Blaine finally wrenched his gaze away from the wall outside the window and looked at Drake, his face carefully indifferent. He wanted him to take the call.

Drake looked desperately at Collette.

"I want to know who he is."

But Collette addressed Blaine.

"I- I don't think that's such a good idea..."

Blaine interposed in a gentle tone.

"Did he know?"

Silently Collette shook her head, a tear trickling down her cheek. She reached up to wipe it away, looking embarrassed.

"I- I never told him. He... hated complications. I guess he was only in it for the..."

She sniffed loudly.

"After I found out ab- about the baby coming, I tried to make out whether he might be interested in a long-term committment. We got into a huge fight when I brought it up and the next morning, he was gone. He changed his number and didn't leave a forwarding address. I haven't heard from or seen him since."

She twisted her hands and then looked to Drake.

"I-I'm so sorry, sweetie. I- I was such an idiot back then. I never knew what I was getting myself into. That's why I set you up for adoption. I couldn't trust myself to be a good enough mom to you. I had so many things I had to sort out first. And I always wanted that you should have a good daddy. Kurt and Blaine were the most amazing parents I knew with Valerie and when I called them, I was so hoping they would take you too. That way I knew I'd never have to worry. You'd be going to the best home there was."

Drake was frozen in his seat, his eyes swollen and red with his effort of holding his overwhelming emotions in check. He glared at her, waiting for her to finish.

"So that's it?" he managed, his voice wavering terribly.

"You don't even know where he is?"

Collette apologetically shook her head.

Drake jumped off his chair and Blaine too got to his feet.

"Well, I guess this is where we say goodbye. I can't thank you enough for this, Collette. I know this can't have been easy for you."

But Collette was looking at Drake, standing with his hands jammed into his pockets, harnessing all his will power to just keep from breaking down and crying. She knelt in front of him and brushed his hair with her fingers.

"You've got the best family in the world, Drake, ok? I know your dads and I can safely tell you no one would have loved you more. Not even me."

Drake lifted his head, his eyes brimming over with his tears, his face crumbling as he looked at her.

"I don't know who I am anymore," he whispered tearfully.  
"I used to think I did, but now I just don't know."

Collette's heart nearly broke for him and she quickly gathered him up into her arms.

"Oh honey. You're such a marvellous little boy. You don't have to worry about that! You're smart and so... so handsome!"

She smiled, tears gathering in her own eyes as she smiled proudly at him.

"I- I just wanted to see where I come from... you know? Just... for once."

Collette nodded.

"Look, I can't promise anything, but I could call some of the guys Hank used to hang out with. They might just have a lead on where he is, ok? If I find anything, I'll call you at home."

She looked up at Blaine to see if that was alright and he nodded once. Then the three headed for the door.

As he passed the hallway, Drake stopped once more and looked down the row of doors. The little girl from before was nowhere to be seen.

"You- you have kids?" he asked, a little hesitantly.

Collette smiled down at him and nodded.

"Yes, I have a little girl, Andrea. Would you like to meet her?"

Drake shrugged, suddenly shy again.

Collette walked down the hallway and opened one of the inner doors.

"Annie? Honey, could you come out for a minute? There's someone I want you to meet."

She walked back out, trailed by the little girl with blonde hair like her mom's, tied into a messy little braid. She was still clutching onto the big stuffed bunny as she gazed up at Drake. She couldn't have been more than five years old.

"Annie, this is Drake. Can you say hi?"

"Hi, Drake," she mumbled from behind her stuffed animal.

Drake did his best to smile back.

"Hi."

He looked back at Collette.

"Have- have you met... Val?"

Collette's smile slipped a little and she fumbled with her fingers again, not quite meeting his eyes.

"Uh... no, I haven't. I- uh- don't think she wanted to..."

She looked to Blaine for help. Blaine looked down at his son and said briskly,

"Come on, Drake. Time we headed home."

He reached out his hand.

Drake took one last look at his birth mother and the daughter she'd decided to keep, nodded them a farewell and followed Blaine, keeping his hands still stuffed down his pockets, refusing to accept his father's hand.

* * *

The next few days passed in a series of tense, awkward moments for the Hummel-Anderson family. Drake would barely talk to any of them, exchanging only the most cursory of communications needed to get on with their everyday tasks. He would hole himself up in his room most of the time and only come out for meals or to use the bathroom. Kurt and Blaine decided to be patient, giving Drake the space he needed to sort the situation out. But it was evident that Valerie missed her little brother. His denouncement of her had touched her deeply, even though she was loath to admit it, and even though Kurt and Blaine tried their best to comfort her and keep her distracted, telling her that he just needed a little time to come around, she would find herself lying awake in bed late into the night, staring longingly at the wall separating her room from his.

It was almost a week later, after the kids had gone to bed that Blaine's phone buzzed urgently on the nightstand. Blaine picked it up and frowned at the name blinking on the screen.

Kurt looked over at him from where he was reading, curled up on the opposite end of the couch.

"Who is it?" he enquired.

"Aren't you going to get it?"

Blaine continued to frown absent-mindedly.

"Yeah... It's Collette."

"Hi, Blaine?" Collette's voice rang out from the other end as Blaine put it discreetly on loudspeaker.

"Hi, Collette. What's up?"

"Hey, is this a good time? I needed to talk to you about something."

Kurt was listening in attentively too and at this, the two husbands exchanged a wary glance.

"Sure, Collette. Go ahead."

"Uh... it's about Drake's dad, Blaine. I- I think I've found him."

* * *

Kurt's glasz eyes bored into him as he pursed his lips into a clearly disapproving thin white line.

Blaine was still looking at his phone, a puzzled faraway expression on his face.

Collette had called to say that she had called some old friends of her ex-boyfriend's and had managed to locate Hank Miller, Drake's biological father. He was currently living in Jackson, New Jersey, and worked at a gas station there. If they wanted, they could drive down there to meet him.

"No," was Kurt's flat answer.

"Absolutely not. I don't want Drake mixing with any gas station hand from Jersey!"

Blaine looked over at him.

"That gas station hand is his father, Kurt," he tried to reason, calmly.

Kurt's eyes flashed with indignation.

"We're his fathers, Blaine! Or do I have to drag out the adoption papers to remind you!"

Blaine sighed, taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"We promised him answers, Kurt," he responded wearily.

"And right now he wants to know who his biological father is."

"He's a booze-addled good-for-nothing who ran out on his pregnant girlfriend the minute he realized he might have to take on some responsibility for the first time in his life! What kind of a father is that?!" Kurt grumbled darkly.

Blaine rested his hand on top of his husband's.

"I don't like it any more than you do, honey, but I don't think he's going to let this go until he faces him atleast once. He needs the closure, Kurt."

Kurt didn't respond, choosing to stew in his stormy silence.

"I'll be with him the whole time, I promise, Kurt. I won't let anythng happen to him."

"What if he doesn't want to come back, Blaine?"

The question was quiet, but the hurt and the fear stung at Blaine all the same.

"Well then this is where all the love we've invested in him over the last ten years gets put to the test. We've got to keep some faith in our son. We have to believe he'll come back."

* * *

It had been a long drive into New Jersey and the three people sitting in the car, Blaine, Drake and Collette were hot, sweaty and on edge.

They were parked across from the gas station at which Collette had found out Hank Miller worked and were now debating their next course of action.

Drake stared out his window at the people walking about the pumps, desperately trying to see if any of them might be recognizable as his father. But it was strange to think of his father being anyone other than Kurt or Blaine. Bubbles of heat were forming and exploding in the pit of his stomach as he waited, and he drummed his feet incessantly against his seat.

"Can you tell which one he is?" Blaine asked Collette, twisting around in the driver's seat.

Collette lifted her hot pink shades high on her forehead and squinted out at the distant station. She studied the number of figures milling around until her attention was caught by the tallest, dressed in the standard coloured jumpsuit of an attendant, pulling out a fuel hose. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the ghost from her past and she fought to quell the wave of anger and hurt that flared within when she saw him.

"That's him," she indicated, pointing.

"The tall guy in the jumpsuit with the hose."

Drake's stomach flip-flopped as his eyes locked onto the man she had indicated. He couldn't make out his features from this distance, just that he was really tall and had a messy mop of dark brown hair.

_His father. His real father._

He forced himself to feel excited, even though what he really felt was more like a sick dampening feeling of disappointment. Somehow he'd always pictured his father being a bit more dramatic.

_Ha! That's how Kurt would think!_ he caught himself thinking, before he could stop himself.

The man had disappeared behind the chassis of an SUV, but Drake kept his eyes fixated to the spot.

"So how are we going to do this?" Blaine looked around at the other two.

"You want me to come with you?"

He directed the last question directly at his son. Drake looked up at Blaine. He seemed nothing but supportive, but he shook his head slowly.

"I'll go on my own."

Collette reached out a hand to Drake.

"Honey, remember he doesn't know about you, ok? So don't think he'll recognize you."

Drake nodded again, forcing himself to be calm.

"Yeah. Sure."

He cleared his throat which had suddenly gone dry.

Blaine fumbled in his pocket and handed him a ten dollar bill.

"Here. Pretend like you're going into the 7-Eleven, ok? See if you can strike up a conversation. You can even ask him for a can of motor oil. Think you can handle that? Sure you don't want me along?"

Blaine's genuine concern made Drake's chest constrict somewhat. But he smiled awkwardly and nodded, opening his side door.

"I'll be fine."

He stuffed the ten-dollar bill inside his pockets, hunched his shoulders and quickly walked across the street towards the man who didn't even know that he would be meeting his son for the first time.

* * *

Hank Miller was muttering various profanities under his breath as he helped change a flat tyre for the pretty rich blonde girl who had pulled her SUV into the station. She seemed to have no qualms about strutting around in her ultra-short skirt showing off her long tanned legs which distracted his partner from the job he was supposed to be helping him with.

"Hey, Bo! Wouldja get your eyes off her shanks and give me a hand with this?" he growled nevertheless getting an eyeful of the beauty standing to the side.

He spat out his gum and lifted a car-jack, positioning it so he could get at the wheel. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a young boy walking towards the attached 7-Eleven store stop and watch the proceedings with more than the usual amount of interest.

_Ha!_ Hank thought to himself, _There's a kid might turn into a grease monkey like me though his posh papa might not be too happy about it!_

It took a while, but finally he had the tyre changed and accepted a generous tip from the girl with a doff of his cap. She waved flirtatiously at his much younger partner and he had no doubts he'd be having wet dreams about her tonight. Much to his chagrin, though, Hank noticed the boy who was staring at him earlier didn't seem to have moved from his spot. He was still gawping at him as though he was some sort of celebrity and it was beginning to get on his nerves.

He scowled as he walked over to the kid, wiping his grease-blackened hands on a rag.

"See anything you like, kid?" he growled.

The boy took a step back. Hank towered over him like a giant.

"Uh... n-no, sir."

"Then what you been staring at?"

"Uh..."

The boy seemed to have lost his tongue.

"You goin' to the store?"

"Uh... y-yeah...?"

"Well then beat it!"

The child looked terrified. He swallowed hard but then stepped up.

"Uh... I'd like to buy a c-can of oil... sir."

Hank turned with agonizing slowness. Would this kid never get off his back?!

"Oil? You mean engine oil?"

"Y-yes."

"Which one?"

For a moment, the boy seemed baffled, then he looked around him to a rack with motor oil cans arranged on it.

"Th-that one."

He pointed, seemingly at random, to a can of Mobil oil.

Hank took it down, wiping it off with his rag before handing it to him. He scrutinized the boy up and down. He seemed posh, well-dressed in expensive clothes and high-end trainers.

_Fat chance of him ever ending up a grease monkey._

"That'll be 8.50."

The boy pulled out a crumpled ten dollar bill from his pocket and handed it to him. Hank passed on the can of oil. Their fingers brushed upon the exchange and Hank fiddled in his own pockets for change.

"Sorry kid. Only got two dollars."

The boy nodded, taking him in just as he'd been doing a moment earlier.

"It's ok. Keep the change."

With a last look back, the boy walked away, crossing the street to a Land Rover parked across the street.

Hank watched him go, unable to shake a strange feeling about him. Almost as though he'd seen him before...

* * *

Drake got into the car, Blaine and Collette both waiting breathlessly for a reaction. He didn't look at them even though he could feel their expectant gazes on him. He stared out the windscreen, setting the oil can on the dashboard. Finally, he broke the silence.

"Can we please go home now?"

**Sorry for the late update, but was swamped all weekend. Enjoy and let me know what you thought!**


	4. Blood

_**[Ready for the finale? Here it is!]**_

All through the long drive home, Blaine kept casting uneasy glances toward his son who remained stubbornly mute. They dropped Collette off at her home and she gave Drake a long hug before parting tearfully.

They had only started pulling away from her block when Blaine heard a sniff from the passenger seat. Drake had his face turned toward the window, but Blaine noticed the slight heaving of his shoulders. Quickly he pulled up to the nearest kerb and stopped the car. Without a word, without even asking, he turned and pulled his son into his arms. Drake broke down completely, sobbing with abandon as Blaine hugged him close, gently stroking his back. He didn't ask questions, he knew he would talk to him when he was ready.

After almost fifteen minutes, Drake's tears finally seemed to subside, but he was still sniffing loudly.

Blaine decided to take the plunge and be the first to speak up.

"It's ok, buddy. It's ok. I'm right here. I'll always be right here. Let it out, whatever it is. You can let it all out."

He kept murmuring soothingly as he comforted his distraught son.

"Did he say anything to you?" he asked at last, when he felt Drake might just be ready to talk.

The boy nodded against his chest.

Blaine bit his lip.

"H- he was s-so big. He-he scared me... a little," Drake blubbered through his tears.

"Oh son, I'm so sorry! Was he mean to you?"

Drake shook his head. No.

"He- he was... really rough though. He-he never smiled..."

Blaine nodded understandingly, his heart thumping loudly in his chest hoping against hope that this wouldn't leave too great an emotional scar on Drake. He continued to stroke his back gently.

"I- I don't want him to be my dad."

Drake's voice came out muffled from the front of Blaine's shirt. Blaine frowned and pulled back a little, puzzled.

"What do you mean, Drake?"

Drake's head remained bent and he fiddled with the gear-stick, not looking Blaine in the face.

"I- I want... you to be my dad," he mumbled thickly.

Blaine felt a wave of incandescent love flare in his heart.

"Hey, news flash? In case you hadn't noticed, I _am _ your dad!"

Drake tried a tremulous watery smile.

"You know what I mean. My _real _ dad."

Blaine forced his chin up to look him directly in the eyes and said.

"Drake, you are my son. This is as real as it gets. No jokes, no lies. I am your father and I love you with my whole heart, more than I've loved anything or anyone in my entire life. It may be just blood that separates us, but I can promise you one thing. No father can love his son more than Kurt and I love you."

Drake drew in a shuddering breath and in the next instant flung himself at Blaine, crushing him in a bone-shattering hug.

" You're right, Dad. And I love you so, so much. I'm- I'm so sorry for how I've behaved over this, for the last week..."

Blaine hugged him back equally hard, feeling tears pricking the backs of his eyes and the beginnings of a euphoric smile forming across his face.

* * *

Kurt felt like he hadn't been able to keep still all day. His mind had been wandering back over and over to their conversation last night and he'd spent hours fretting over just where Blaine and Drake might be at this moment. He'd kept picking up his phone, intent on calling his husband and then flinging it back down again, because he'd promised he wouldn't disturb them.

He had started baking cookies just so his hands would have something to occupy themselves with and by now had five batches ready and cooling. He was just taking the sixth lot out of the oven when he heard the front door opening and something barrelled into him, clutching him so tightly about the waist that he almost gasped for breath.

"Drake! Watch it, sweetheart! You'll burn yourself!"

Kurt swatted Drake's hands playfully away from the still-warm oven door while pretending to be annoyed. In reality, his heart was hammering in his chest. Now was the moment he would find out whether his son had truly come back to him or whether he would have to endure his heart breaking over a period of years as his little boy grew ever more distant from them.

He turned around to find Drake clinging to him, his face buried deeply in his apron, smelling in the warm aroma of fresh cookie dough. Kurt tried to prise his boy off himself, but to no avail.

"Drake! Let me go!"

"Promise me you'll never give me back?"

The muffled words made Kurt still.

"What?"

Drake didn't answer immediately, only burying his face deeper into Kurt's stomach.

"You adopted me from someone, right? If- if you wanted, could you send me back again?"

Something in Kurt ached deeply to even be asked such a question.

"Why- why would we want to do that, Drake?" he asked, hesitantly.

Drake again took his time before replying.

"If- if you stopped loving me...?"

Kurt felt the tears filling his eyes as he looked down at the little brown head at his waist.

"No," he breathed, dashing them away hurriedly with a finger.

"No, we can't send you back. We can never send you back. You're ours. For better or for worse. For life."

And Kurt sank down to his knees, gathering his son into his arms and holding him so close that he felt he'd never be able to let go again.

It might be technically possible to send an adopted child back to the agency or an orphanage, but Kurt knew with bone-deep certainty, that it would be impossible for him or even for Blaine, to ever consider that possibility for their children, no matter how bad things got.

No. They were theirs. For keeps.

* * *

They were sitting once more around the living room coffee table, just the three of them, but this time it was Drake doing the talking.

"I guess meeting them didn't turn out exactly like I expected it to," Drake confessed, fiddling uneasily with a coaster from the table.

Kurt and Blaine exchanged an excited glance, but remained silent, allowing Drake to continue.

"I know we're like related, but... I couldn't really connect with either of them, you know? I mean, Collette was really nice and everything, but..."

This time he looked up to be confronted by the extremely sympathetic countenances of his fathers.

He returned his gaze to the carpet before he brought up the second thing that had been bothering him.

"I think I look like him," he said softly, almost guiltily.

"Who, honey?"

"My father."

The thought seemed to make Drake particularly miserable.

"I... didn't like him very much."

Blaine looked at Kurt with concern, not knowing what to say at this. Kurt's eyes seemed to have locked onto his son and he went and knelt before him, so they could be at eye level.

"You're right, you know. You do look like your father."

Drake looked up at him, his face mirroring his dismay.

But Kurt remained resolute.

"Your father Blaine," he stated.

This time it was undisguised surprise that sparked in Drake's eyes. Kurt could tell he'd even caught Blaine unawares.

"You have your father's eyes, Drake. Blaine's eyes. I saw it in you the day you were born."

Drake was scrutinizing him to see if he might be joking, but Kurt was dead serious.

"And a bit of his nose too, especially when you turn it up when you think you're right. And when you smile, your real smile that starts at your lips and ends at your eyes, I swear it's almost like you've been practising in front of a picture of him! You've got it down to a T!"

Kurt was smiling at him fondly, his eyes twinkling at the incredulous expression on his face.

"What about you?" Drake asked, when he'd recovered enough to find his voice.

"Do I have any of you in me?"

Kurt's smile dimmed, unsure of how to answer this one, but that was when Blaine darted in to his rescue.

"Your dad may say you have me on the outside, Drake, but you're all Kurt on the inside."

Now it was his turn to smile at the surprise in his husband's eyes.

"You're brave and stubborn and kind all at once. You know exactly what you want, and you'll do everything in your power to get it and you never stop until you win in an argument."

He shook a finger in front of both their faces.

"That's Kurt through and through."

Kurt turned a brief indignant gaze on him, but then turned back to his son.

"You see, son? Blood may be what you're born with, but it doesn't necessarily have to define who you are. You get a say in who you choose to be and you'll always be able to find a piece of those you really care about within you. Always remember that, ok?"

Drake nodded, suddenly too choked up to speak and engulfed them both in giant hugs which they were only too glad to return in kind.

But as they drew back, Blaine interjected,

"Speaking of blood, I do believe it's time you made up with the only member of our family you're actually related to!"

He indicated upstairs with a nod of his head.

"Go on. Your sister's been waiting for you."

Drake shot them an apologetic smile and dashed up full speed to barge into Valerie's room to finally make amends with the other half of himself.

And Kurt and Blaine heaved sighs of relief, sagging back against each other, content in the knowledge that even though joined piecemeal, their beloved little family was no longer in danger of being torn apart and that all was well that ended well.

** THE END**

**A/N: Well, that's a wrap folks. Thanks for all those kind enough to follow, fave and review this story. Turned out longer than I'd initially intended it to, but this was the only way I could get in everything that occurred to me. For all those who wish to read more stories about this particular Klaine family, have no fear. I have more short stories on my profile and quite a few lined up, including a multi-chapter sort-of epic which is just a few scenes away from being completed and post-worthy. Hope to see you all aboard for future adventures, and thanks again! ;) LoL.**


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